For people unaware of all the role-playing game (RPG) subgenres, here’s a brief explainer:

TTRPG – Tabletop RPG. The original RPG. Played on a literal table. Dice, paper, friends, arguments. Everything else evolved from here.

Examples:

• Dungeons & Dragons
• Pathfinder
• Shadowrun

LARP / LARPG – Live Action Role-Playing Game. The version where people physically dress as their characters and act things out in person. Foam weapons, costumes, fake accents, and enough in-character drama to power three soap operas. LARPing as a concept goes back to the 1970s, right alongside early tabletop like D&D, but it didn’t get the “LARP” acronym until the 1980s.

Examples:

• Vampire: The Masquerade LARP events
• Amtgard
• Dagorhir

CRPG – Computer RPG. Born from tabletop, moved onto computers. The CPU handles all the dice rolls you don’t want to argue about.

Examples:

• Baldur’s Gate
• Fallout (1997)
• Planescape: Torment

TBRPG – Turn-Based RPG. Everyone takes turns. This is the “classic” RPG format, so people often just call it an RPG.

Examples:

• Divinity: Original Sin II
• Wasteland 3
• Trails in the Sky

SRPG / TRPG – Strategy (or Tactical) RPG. Same turn-based idea, but on grids—squares or hexes—with multiple units to command.

Examples:

• Fire Emblem
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Tactics Ogre

RTwPRPG – Real-Time with Pause RPG. You pause to assign orders, unpause to watch them happen. Baldur’s Gate fans still swear by this.

Examples:

• Baldur’s Gate II
• Pillars of Eternity
• Dragon Age: Origins

ARPG – Action RPG. Real-time combat. No turns, no waiting—just swing when you feel like it.

Examples:

• Diablo II
• Dark Souls
• Kingdom Hearts

IRPG – Idle RPG. The game mostly plays itself. Perfect for people who like progression bars but don’t like playing.

Examples:

• Clicker Heroes
• Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
• AFK Arena

DBRPG – Deck-Building RPG. RPG progression tied to card decks. You level up by upgrading your deck rather than just your stats.

Examples:

• Slay the Spire
• Monster Train
• Griftlands

SurRPG – Survival RPG. Harsh environments, resource scarcity, and RPG progression systems. The game’s main plot is “don’t die.”

Examples:

• Outward
• Kenshi
• The Long Dark

RLRPG – Rogue-like RPG. Procedural generation, permadeath, and heavy RNG baked into an RPG framework.

Examples:

• Darkest Dungeon
• Stoneshard
• Tangledeep

SLRPG – Souls-like RPG. RPGs built around Soulsborne-style combat: stamina-based melee, brutal bosses, minimalist storytelling.

Examples:

• Dark Souls III
• The Surge 2
• Lords of the Fallen

JRPG – Japanese RPG. Made in Japan or heavily inspired by Japan’s approach. Console-heavy. Drama-heavy. Usually turn-based or action hybrid.

Examples:

• Final Fantasy VII
• Persona 5
• Dragon Quest XI

KRPG – Korean RPG. Similar to JRPGs but usually more PC-oriented. Often online.

Examples:

• Lost Ark
• MapleStory
• Vindictus

WRPG – Western RPG. Pretty much any RPG from the West that isn’t imitating JRPGs.

Examples:

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Mass Effect
• Fallout: New Vegas

PRPG – Polish RPG. Technically a WRPG branch, but with its own personality. Darker tone, folkloric influences, and PC-first mentality.

Examples:

• The Witcher series
• Seven: The Days Long Gone
• The Thaumaturge

GRPG – German RPG. RPGs developed in Germany, usually open-world Eurojank epics with handcrafted maps, tough early-game difficulty, and an earnest-but-campy tone.

Examples:

• Gothic II
• Risen
• ELEX

LatRPG – Latin American RPG. RPGs from Latin America, often mixing local folklore, indigenous mythology, and JRPG/ARPG elements. “LARPG” isn’t used because Live Action Role-Playing already took it.

Examples:

• Mulaka
• Tunche
• Cris Tales

MORPG – Multiplayer Online RPG. Small-scale online RPGs, often instanced or lobby-based.

Examples:

• Phantasy Star Online 2
• Monster Hunter: World,
• Dauntless

MMORPG – Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. Persistent worlds, thousands of players, endless grinds.

Examples:

• World of Warcraft
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Guild Wars 2

MOORPG – Massive Online Open-World RPG. Marketing term for the “bigger” MMOs. You’ve seen the ads.

Examples:

• Black Desert Online
• ArcheAge
• EVE Online

MRPG – Mobile RPG. Made for phones. Often gacha-heavy, session-based, or both.

Examples:

• Honkai: Star Rail
• Raid: Shadow Legends
• Summoners War

BRPG – Browser RPG. Runs in your web browser. Lightweight, accessible, usually free-to-play.

Examples:

• Kingdom of Loathing
• AdventureQuest Worlds
• Urban Dead

VRRPG – Virtual Reality RPG. Built for VR platforms. Often more about immersion than traditional RPG mechanics.

Examples:

• Zenith: The Last City
• OrbusVR
• The Mage’s Tale

BBRPG – Bulletin Board RPG. Forum- or post-based roleplay. Writing-heavy, rules-light.

Examples:

• Gaia Online RP forums
• NationStates roleplay boards
• Myth-Weavers

So yeah, there’s a lot of alphabet in the RPG soup. Some of it’s legit, some of it’s marketing garbage, and some of it’s just fans inventing labels because that’s what fans do.

But they’re all chasing the same dopamine hit: numbers go up, loot gets shinier, and suddenly your “quick session” has eaten the entire weekend.